Music Journal: The 2011 Grammys – What does this all mean?

So as you know the Grammys were last night and they usually don’t matter to me. In the past it has always seemed that the winners of the award are chosen based on popularity instead of quality of music, so in my book to have won a Grammy is nice but it doesn’t necessary make you a truly great artist. So when this year’s nominations came out I thought I had the whole night figured out. Lady Gaga or Eminem would win best album, Justin Bieber would win best new artist, and bands like Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, or Vampire Weekend, truly great bands that have released fantastic music in the past year, wouldn’t win anything.

But last night something incredible happened.

Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs defined all odds and won the best album Grammy. For a rare time in the public eye, quality was chosen over crap. I’m still in shock. If an alternative band like Arcade Fire can beat out Lady Gaga for a Grammy, then there is hope for good music to rise again. Steven Kandell from Spin.com says it better: “And with [the 2011 Grammys], an entire population of rock fans entrenched in “the Grammys don’t mean anything, ha-ha Justin Bieber’s hair” camp — the music equivalent of just watching the Super Bowl for the commercials — now urgently careens into ‘what does it all mean?’ mode.”

Arcade Fire’s win wasn’t all that pleased me with the Grammys this year. The Black Keys won best alternative album for Brothers, The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons performed well despite singing with Bob Dylan (I’m cutting him some slack though, the man is 70 for goodness sake), and Bruno Mars’s doo-wop rendition of “Grenade” was awesome.

What I think is shown by this event is that rock music – in its current stage – is making a comeback, and soon I will be proud to say that I am a rock fan. To summarize what I and many other rock n roll lovers are feeling now, I shall quote Kanye West’s tweet: “#Arcade fire!!!!!!!!!! There is hope!!! I feel like we all won when something like this happens! FUCKING AWESOME!”

There is hope indeed.

Also I would like to wish everyone happy Valentine’s Day with this song!

3 Comments

ha first kanye tweet that doesn’t make me want to delete twitter and delete his music from my library- M&S gave me chills- no words. I cannot begin to imagine what standing on that stage must have felt like- dylan breaking out the harmonica- also no words-. Truly amazing moment for our tribe. Biebers a little too young to understand.